Ed Zuercher, a 1983 graduate of Hesston High and son of Bill and Joyce Zuercher of Hesston, is now responsible for a $3.5 billion budget, over 14,000 employees and negotiations with over seven unions.

In February, Zuercher was appointed Phoenix, Ariz., City Manager. Zuercher is the Chief Operating Officer for the city of Phoenix and oversees the largest council-manager form of government in the U.S.

Zuercher, a Hesston native, returned to the community after earning his B.A. in English and secondary education from Goshen College.

“I taught English and American History at Hesston High from 1988 to 1992 and coached tennis and basketball,” he said

After years of teaching, Zuercher was ready for a professional transition.

“I really love teaching and working with teachers and students. I didn’t like grading papers – and that’s really a character flaw in someone who wants to be an English teacher. I didn’t see myself grading papers the rest of my life,” he said.

Zuercher said he knew he needed to further his education to find a new profession.

“I needed to go to grad school. I didn’t know specifically what I wanted to get into when I went to KU. KU’s master of Public Administration Schools is one of the nation’s best city management schools. Once I got on campus, I liked the issues cities dealt with and liked working with people on city issues,” he said.

The Hesston Food Market is making it easier for shoppers to make health-conscious decisions by implementing the NuVal system.

Shoppers may have noticed blue tags with numbers ranging from 1 to 100 near the shelving labels of their favorite products. These labels indicate the nutritional value of the product with a 1 rating being the lowest and 100 the highest score for any food product.

Bindy Barber, Produce Manager at Hesston Food Market, said the roll-out should be complete by the end of March.

“March is National Health Month. And, in March, the FDA is changing labels,” she said.

Barber said as the tags are placed, she has been surprised by some of the ratings.

“It is interesting and fun to see the differences between brands. It sheds some light on what you’re buying with a brand name,” she said.

Barber said the Hesston Food Market is the only grocer she has seen with this kind of nutritional system.

“I’ve been to Walmart and Dillon’s. I haven’t seen anything like this anywhere else,” she said.

USD 460 Superintendent Paul Becker announced the district will be taking a significant financial hit this year. The decrease in funding comes from a drop in enrollment and a reduction of at-risk funding.

• Becker said state funding will continue to be a topic of discussion in Kansas schools.

“Gov. Brownback proposed a phase-in to fund all-day kindergarten. Right now funding is at .5 and starting next year that will be .6 then .7. What that does for us next year, depending on enrollment, will be around $16,000 that we get in additional funding.

There is also base state aid per pupil scheduled to go up by $14, and that would be another $15,000 or so,” he said.

However, Becker reported enrollment took a dip in USD 460.

“Our enrollment dropped by 24 students this year. If our enrollment would stay the same as it is this year, we would lose $60,000 more on the General Fund and the Local Option Budget, which is based of 30 percent of the General Fund, would drop too. It would be an additional $20,000 if enrollment stays the same,” he said. Becker said at-risk funding is also a challenge for USD 460.

The Hesston Recoard, a weekly newspaper, is published each Thursday. If you have a news item for The Hesston Record, e-mail it to us. We welcome births, weddings, engagements, letters to the editor, club news and just about anything that is local.